Your playing small does not serve the world (Nelson Mandela)

As my office as President of the Governing Council of MIB Trieste Alumni Association is at its end, I want to thank everybody in the School, the Faculty, the staff, other members of the governing council, alumni and students for these amazing years together.

It’s been a life experience above all, where I learned how great is our business school, education we have received, the diversity of cultures in our community.

I learned, first of all, that we are a community: a group of almost three thousand professionals from all continents, with same roots, in Trieste, a small town in the North East Italy that is the European city with the highest number of researchers per thousand inhabitants, 37.1 (figures referring to 2005) and one of the largest concentrations of scientific institutions in Italy, thus becoming one of major research fields in our country. This is the reason why EuroScience and the ESOF Supervisory Board announced last July that the EuroScience Open Forum 2020 will be hosted in Trieste.

I’ve also learned that there are endless ways to learn; my favorite one is learning by sharing.

Talking , writing, sharing your knowledge is not less important than learning knowledge. It is a way to learn even better, to increase collaboration with peers, colleagues, leaders, entrepreneurs, academics etc. Receiving their feedback is enlightening when your mind is open and your spirit is humble.

Being President of MIB Alumni Association has been an honor and gave me the opportunity to dream big for our community: by giving time and energy to reinforce our relationships, I received so much in return, and I am grateful for any feedback, idea, thought I have received from you.

It is with great emotion that I hand this assignment over to the new Governing Council that has been elected on 25th November 2017 in Trieste.

I would like to share these values from an American Association dedicated to women’s training for politics (Emily’s List) as guidelines for the action of any alumna and alumnus in our association, for our future, as part of MIB School and of the society:

Reject apathy and the status quo. Reject daily.

Not participate. Lead: Stand on the frontline and be first to identify opportunities, processes and delivery channels. Be excited by emerging technologies and ideas. Embrace what others anxiously avoid, and be a champion for giving good ideas a shot.

Provoke and instigate: Combine enthusiasm and strategy to unlock the motivators that convert “change wishers” to “change drivers,” and provoke people into action.

Be an authority: Communicate with confidence, rationale and clarity. Be attentive. Be understood. Understand.

Relentlessly dismiss the comfort zone: When everyone gets settled and comfy, trouble brews and opportunities are missed. Constantly monitor policy and its usefulness to the people who need it most, knowing that yesterday’s decisions are for just that. Yesterday.

Champion diversity: Listen to and celebrate the points of view that different cultures and histories bring to our community, and work towards making every space an inclusive one.

Respect the past. Change the future.

Ad maiora.

Alessandra Lomonaco

PS: At this link I collected the best moments together during these years.